Socio-economic disparities in health have been well documented around the world. This study examines whether NGO facilitation of the government's community-based health programme improved the equity of maternal and newborn health in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. A quasi-experimental study design included one intervention district and one comparison district of rural Uttar Pradesh. A household sur...

OBJECTIVE To describe healthcare worker (HCW)-identified system-based bottlenecks and the value of local engagement in designing strategies to improve referral processes related to emergency obstetric care in rural Ghana. DESIGN Qualitative study using semistructured interviews of participants to obtain provider narratives. SETTING Referral systems in obstetrics in Assin North Municipal Ass...

The present paper deals with the ethnomedicinal knowledge of 19 plant species belonging to 19 angiospermic families as gathered from tribals viz., Pawara, Bhil, Tadvi and Vanjara communities, besides other rural people of Jalgaon district (Maharashtra ). Out of 19 plant species studied, 05 species are used against dog bite, 05 species against snake bite, 06 species against scorpion sting, 05 sp...

BACKGROUND Considerable attention has been given by policy makers and researchers to the human resources for health crisis in Africa. However, little attention has been paid to quantifying health facility-level trends in health worker numbers, distribution and workload, despite growing demands on health workers due to the availability of new funds for HIV/AIDS control scale-up. This study analy...

Traditional medicinal uses for various human diseases of 54 angiospermic species from Shegaon, Sangrampur, Jalgaon (Jamod), Malkapur, Nandura, Motala and Khamgaon tehsils of Buldhana district (Maharashtra) are reported. Of these, applications of 36 species are unknown or little known. The folk medicines consist of a sole drug or a principal drug in combination with other drugs. The recent botan...

Given the relatively slow development and less adequate management of resources, rapid growth of population in Punjab is an issue of vital concern. Significant improvement in the standard of living of its inhabitants may remain just a vision unless population growth is controlled. At the present rates, Punjab would be unable to meet the needs of its population and find jobs for those completing...

Reported are the results of a case study from Kirotshe rural health district, Northern Kivu, Zaire, where a workshop on the causal model approach to nutrition was organized in 1987. The model has since been used in the field for research design, training of health professionals, nutrition intervention, and community development. The rationale behind this approach is reviewed, the experience acc...

A small rural district in the most northerly province of Sweden was found to have a very high occurrence of multiple sclerosis. A total of 12 patients with multiple sclerosis among 4744 inhabitants were identified (five females, seven males), corresponding to a prevalence of 253/100,000. Many of the patients were related and a further 21 cases with multiple sclerosis (14 females, seven males), ...

In Africa, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is common and poses diagnostic difficulties. Ultrasound is useful to find suggestive signs such as effusions or abdominal lymphadenopathy. Because trained radiologists are scarce in resource-poor settings, even this simple and relatively inexpensive diagnostic tool is frequently unavailable to patients in ...

The first documented cases of AIDS in Uganda were reported in October 1985. Early cases, however, were seen in 1982, in the Rakai district (Southwestern Uganda). Since then the AIDS epidemic has spread to all parts of Uganda. In 1988, a national serosurvey was conducted under WHO to establish the extent of HIV infection in Uganda. This survey revealed that about one million Ugandans were HIV po...